The doctor glanced one final time at the computer monitor, as if for confirmation. She then turned to me and said…

This Friday Fiction Writing Prompt is all about the narrator’s reaction. The doctor is about to speak. What do they say and what is the reaction? It can be good or bad news, or even something else. The doctor’s words might relate to the narrator or another member of the family. However, the words will cause an emotional response. Writing this prompt in the first person allows you to really get under the skin of your character.

There is an emotional scene in the TV series Breaking Bad. Walter White is told that he has terminal lung cancer. The doctor is talking away but Walter isn’t listening to the words. Walter is focussed on a stain of sauce on the doctor’s coat. That’s Walter’s reaction to the doctor’s words. What will the reaction be in your fiction?

No rules on length, just write and enjoy. Stretch your literary muscles with this writing prompt.

‘I reached into my bag for my purse/wallet but it wasn’t there! How would I pay?’

In this week’s Friday Fiction Writing Prompt we look at getting out of a sticky situation. You are somewhere, let’s say a restaurant, which means you have already partaken of the service, and you need to pay. However, the means of payment, your purse or wallet is missing. What are you going to do? You need to think quickly and come up with a solution. In addition, what has happened to the missing item? Is it a simple case of forgetting to pick it up, or is there something a little more riveting going on?

Quite often we can write ourselves into a cul-de-sac, a dead end. Our main character, or another vital person, has been written into a situation they need to get out of. It wasn’t intended, but the muse led us here. We could just erase or delete those 100, 200, 500… more words? Or we can craft and write our way out. That’s what this prompt is there for.

No rules on word count or style or how you achieve it, apart from you need to write and get out of the situation you find yourself in.

My eyes snapped open. I was wide awake. But the dream was still vivid.

This Friday Fiction Writing Prompt is about stretching your imagination muscles. Dreams are not fully understood. More importantly for us, they don’t follow the normal physical laws of reality. Things don’t always happen in order. Places and people can become confused and mixed-up. Emotions can be exaggerated or non-existent. Friends and family can act out of character. In other words, dreams can go beyond the normal constraints of fiction.

There are no limits to what your dream can be about. Describe your dream and draw the reader into this ‘strange’ land of the subconscious.

A glance over a drink was the first real contact, the first real lingering contact

I may be a hopeless romantic, but it’s time to have a little attraction in today’s fiction writing prompt. It’s the moment your eyes really meet. The moment you go beyond looking to actually seeing. Where are you going to take it? How do you describe the emotions being felt and shared? Being able to describe how someone feels is key to fiction.

Of course, it might not be a romantic encounter. This could be a business deal, or something more sinister. As always the decision on where to take the writing is yours. But see how you can get inside the heads of those making contact.

I opened the letter and read. I had to be careful not to smudge the words, as tears of joy rolled down my cheeks

Somethings make us so happy that our emotions overflow. But what could make us so happy as we read the words in today’s Friday Fiction Writing Prompt? Is it the news we have been waiting for, or the news we never dared would arrive? Is it a confirmation of something or a positive change in fortune?

What is so important that it has arrived via post? Or, is this a past event being described, before the advent of email, texting and messaging?

The choice, as always, is yours. Put pen to paper or finger to keyboard and write, that’s the only rule.

Enjoy this Friday Fiction Writing Prompt, and if you write anything, feel free to share in the comment section.